Whether designing for equity in education, accessible healthcare, inclusive communities, new scientific discoveries or the “next big idea” in business, Cannon Design leverages a full suite of end-to-end services to help organizations and the people and communities they serve to flourish.
Cannon Design does this through a design approach they created called Living-Centered Design. Living-Centered Design realizes that to create a world where people continuously flourish, we must address the complex interdependencies that exist between people, businesses, communities, society and the environment.
We talk with Eric Corey Freed, director of sustainability at Cannon Design, about how a well-designed building can not only have an environmental impact but also increase productivity. How can we achieve that? Listen to Eric on Mindful Businesses podcast.
As the Europe Energy Crisis sets in, causing financial havoc in the continent, here is an interesting episode on using the energy of the Sun. Do give it a listen. This episode is a re-air from September 14, 2021
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We speak with John Salzinger founder and Seungah Jeong CEO of MPOWERD, about their company mission and passion to give back. In 2012 MPOWERD created Luci, the first inflatable solar light with the goal of making an affordable clean energy product that people could use in any situation. They create sustainable, affordable, and thoughtfully designed products that suit the needs of the many. The belief that everyone deserves access to clean, reliable and affordable energy, no matter how or where they live has driven them to create their sustainable products. For over 3 billion people, everyday tasks are made more difficult (and dangerous) than they should be. Access to clean energy can improve health, create education equality, economic empowerment, all the while combating climate change.
As a B Corp, they use the power of business to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy. As a social enterprise, they reinvest a majority of their gross revenue to achieve sustainability, increase their reach to enable them to fulfill their mission. Aside from the Give Luci Program – which donates lights to their partners – their sustainable business model means that the more they sell here at home, the more affordable they can sell to emerging markets and nonprofits. As a member of the American Sustainable Business Council along with other members like Patagonia, Ben and Jerry’s, Greyston Bakery, Avocado Green Mattress, advocate for policy change and inform business owners, policymakers, and the public about the need and opportunities for building a vibrant, broadly prosperous, sustainable economy. Listen to their journey in this episode.
Nothing makes one feel more at home than a nice warm bath. Tune in to learn Thermify helps warm homes and heat hot water through data centers. This episode is a re-air from October 19, 2021
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What if there was a new kind of data center that could directly warm homes and heat hot water, instead of a gas boiler?
One that could use the energy used in cloud computing, not once but twice, and also take away the need for the additional energy used for cooling? That is exactly what Thermify’s innovation does. Using energy twice. We talk with Garry Felgate Chair & Energy Lead at Thermify. The technology was invented by Adam Pulley in 2009 and Thermify is bringing to the UK market at the price comparable to heating a home with pre-pandemic gas prices. From helping the environment to keeping senior citizens warm to offering relief for low-income families struggling to pay for their heat, to companies looking for environmentally friendly alternatives for their data centers, everyone benefits from joining this green revolution.
Thermify is committed to reducing the pressure on our environment, and on the pockets of our most vulnerable in society. Learn more about this win-win innovation in this episode.
As we move into our Sustainable home we need to think clean-air and tiles! Take a listen to this week’s episode to know more about Praan. This episode is a re-air from November 30, 2021
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Countries must meet their sustainability goals and head towards net-zero. These goals cannot be achieved in silos but need cooperation, trust, and partnerships. We bring two such sustainable start-ups which are from adjacent industries with one firm goal – to reduce the carbon emissions and air pollutants from the air. Today we speak with Angad Daryani – CEO and founder of Praan – Clean Air For all, and Tejas Sidnal – founder of Carbon Craft Design – Upcycled Carbon Tiles.
Praan captures the carbon with the world’s most advanced, low-cost, filterless, and artificially intelligent outdoor air purification system. Angad who, ranked amongst the top 3 in his class, dropped out of high school in 9th grade – though he stopped formal education, he continued learning and innovating. His passion for sustainability gave rise to the patented innovation that creates hyperlocal clean air zones within open areas on corporate campuses, schools, universities, hotels, hospitals, residential complexes, malls, industrial areas, and more!
Praan captures the CO2 and carbon particulates that they hand over to Carbon Craft Designs who then creates tiles. Each tile prevents 15 minutes of car pollution – 5 kgs of carbon – dioxide equivalents. Carbon Craft Design strives to be at the intersection of Craft, Design, and Technology with the sole aim of building scalable solutions. Tejas, a practicing architect, talks about the fact that the world builds twelve New Yorks every year. Its impact and his role as an architect and being part of the problem made him uneasy. He decided to do something about it and reduce the impact of new construction projects by developing carbon-neutral building materials. A chance meeting at a conference in 2016 and mutual respect brought Angad Daryanai and Tejas Sidnal to collaborate to bring their solutions to market. Listen to this energetic duos’ passion and story in this episode.
As we are in the process of building and moving into a Sustainable House, here is an interesting article on using sustainable practices to treat sewage. Take a listen and learn more about the same. This episode is a re-air from January 11, 2021
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When Tharun Kumar saw the lake where his housing complex empties their sewage burn for 14 hours non-stop, he decided to do something about it. He started asking around and realized that the overburdened municipalities had transferred the sewage treatment responsibilities to the home owners. We chat with Tharun Kumar, founder and CEO of EcoSTP Technologies – an IT professional who wanted to be the person who not just talks about change but brings about change. He did so by starting a mission-driven company that uses existing sustainable practices and knowledge to treat sewage and delivers executable DIY kits to home owners. Using biomimicry, regenerative innovation inspired by nature, the ECOSTP utilizes functional principles and strategies of microorganisms and ecosystems found in a cow’s stomach. Using gravity and anaerobic bacteria ECOSTP it treats sewage without the use of pumps/blowers used in conventional sewage treatment plants to convert sewage water into clear water. Their system overall has lower operational and maintenance costs and its flexible design can be adapted even in existing housing complexes and in new developments.
ECOSTP addresses six UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is selected as a Best Practice case study for United Nations ESCAP SDG Sustainability Asia Pac report. Learn more in this episode.
Today as the senate passes the much awaited climate bill, here is a much awaited sustainable alternative. take a listen to the episode. This episode is a re-air from December 14, 2021
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Every year, 15 Billion trees are cut down to produce paper, build homes, and make furniture. From this, millions of tons of wood waste are generated annually. A portion of this waste is recovered and sold to downstream markets to make particle board or wood pellets for energy. The remaining sawdust is either burned – contributing to air pollution – or sent to landfill. Though biodegradable, sawdust can be harmful to the environment in large quantities when landfilled. As it decomposes, sawdust releases high concentrations of lignin and fatty acids, which can contaminate water supplies, potentially poisoning wildlife and micro-organisms. We speak with Andrew Jeffery, Co-founder of Forust, by Desktop Metal, uses the power of high-speed, high-resolution 3D printing to give a new life to a discarded resource – creating strong, beautiful and carbon-friendly wood products from wood waste. For each tree saved, we reduce the CO2 footprint by a metric ton over the tree’s life. Learn more in our next episode.
Mentions:
Virginia San Fratello
Ronald Rael
https://www.forust.com/
https://www.mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/
When we initially recorded this episode in June of 2021, our host Vidhya Iyer and Jennifer Zeitler – Founder and CEO of Let’s Goat Buffalo, really connected and promised to visit each other. But little did either one of them know that in a year their paths would cross again – when Vidhya and her family relocate to Buffalo, NY. The two met for the first time this summer, but bonded like old friends. In honor of our new home and friend we decided to re-air this episode – Let’s Goat Buffalo. This episode is a re-air from August 17, 2021
Let’s Goat Buffalo employs rescued goats to eat unwanted vegetation growth! Whether it’s a residential yard that needs clearing, a commercial property that has become overgrown and high-risk, or a park or highway that has become less accessible to the public, their herds are prepared to help! We chat with the bubbly Jennifer Zeitler – Founder and CEO of Let’s Goat Buffalo, on how she transitioned from Human Resources to goatscaping. The term “goatscaping” means grazing goats to manage vegetation growth in an environmentally sound manner. Goatscaping greatly reduces the use of toxic herbicides, and because the goat digestive process effectively sterilizes seeds and reproductive plant matter, they are an ideal treatment for invasive plants. Let’s Goat Buffalo offers grazing services within suburban, urban and rural environments. By choosing natural treatment, Let’s Goat customers are choosing healthier soil, increased biodiversity, and a greener future. Jennifer Zeitler collaborated with a goat dairy farm Alpine Maid and rescued the goats to bring a sustainable solution to remove overgrown brush and weeds. She was also made a How I Built This, fellow, in 2021 by NPR. Come listen now to her journey.
You cannot switch on the radio, TV or online news any day without a mention of sustainability or climate change. One of the early thought leader in this field is Jeffrey Hollender, co-founder of Seventh Generation. We enjoy always to listen to his words and thought process and decided to re-air this classic episode. Take a listen. c
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Jeffrey Hollender, co-founder and Board Chair of the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), which through its national member network represents more than 250,000 businesses in a wide range of industries. He was co-founder and CEO of Seventh Generation, which he built into a leading natural product brand known for its authenticity, transparency, and progressive business practices.
As an early thinker and adopter of sustainable practices, Jeffrey brought to market several green products. He talks about how and why is a living wage important. He talks about the impact of a living wage on an individual and societal level – both emotionally and financially. What sustainability means is far more than just doing no harm – we have to be a net positive. Do more good through regenerative practices. AT ASBC, he leads and lobbies for policy changes in these issues which he is passionate about. Listen now only on Mindful Businesses.
Summer construction activity is at its peak in the US. And as we look for sustainable alternatives for bricks or pavers or other construction materials, we look Eastwards to one of our guests whose journey I have followed since our last recording. He is a very creative solution made almost entirely of waste and 2.5 times stronger than regular brick. This episode we felt definitely needed an encore.
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When Manish Kothari, Managing Director of Rhino Machines and a second-generation entrepreneur involved in the casting and foundry industry in India, saw how dark, dusty and dangerous this industry was to the environment and the workers, he decided to do something about it. He is a social entrepreneur with a passion for innovation who decided to tackle the dust and sand waste that the foundry creates. He reached out to Shridhar Rao, a partner in the architect firm R + D studio to make a brick by combining the foundry dust with plastic to create the first Silica Plastic Block (SPB). The SPB tested 2.5 times stronger than regular brick and it was comparable in cost to the regular bricks in Indian metro cities.
What makes this solution and entrepreneur special is Manish’s obstinance about not patenting his innovation. He in fact believes in assisting and sharing the know-how with other sustainable entrepreneurs. Learn more about these enterprising, creative and forward-thinking entrepreneurs on Mindful Businesses podcast.
With all the talk of hydrogen as a green alternative, I wanted to go back and listen to an episode released almost exactly a year ago. It seemed pretty unachievable and different, but now almost viable and scalable commercially.
REVO ZERO is revolutionizing the transportation industry by bringing the most innovative, practical, and cost-effective technologies to support a zero-emission economy of the future. We talked to Ruben Creus, a serial entrepreneur with a passion and drive to create a zero-emission vehicle. He takes the best of the Electric Vehicle (EV) technology and the Plug-in Fuel Cells (PFC) and balances them to create a cost – efficient vehicle for local trips and quick refueling for longer trips. REVO ZERO is working on three different models of cars. In addition, they are creating an ecosystem of hydrogen generation, storage and fuel cells that is the perfect alternative for a clean, healthy and sustainable zero – emission future. Learn more by listening to this episode.
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